


Who You Gonna Call?

by eremiticAntiquarian



Series: Actual Ghostbuster Dave Strider [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Actual Ghostbuster Dave Strider, Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, Ghosts, Supernatural - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-02
Updated: 2012-09-02
Packaged: 2017-11-13 09:34:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/502055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eremiticAntiquarian/pseuds/eremiticAntiquarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One little near-death experience and suddenly secret paranormal investigation teams are emailing (and possibly stalking) him. So what's Dave to do but just try to get a good nights sleep and ignore the issues. This Aradia girl-ghost-robot-thing and some lost souls in need of killing probably aren't going to let that happen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Who You Gonna Call?

He can't say that this is something that he expected. Not in the slightest.

It really isn't every day that you come home to find such a disturbing e-mail in your inbox. And really, it's the last thing Dave needs after having been in the hospital for the past two weeks, one of which was spent in the ICU.

His patience is thin.

But this e-mail is so detailed that something makes him take it seriously.

At first he thought that maybe it was just another fan who found his personal address and was going to start demanding he update his comic. Far from it. This person knew his name, where he lived, what he was in the hospital for when everyone else he actually talked to thought it was just an accident and had nothing to do with a certain girl. This person just knew too much.

Which of course, makes everything else that much harder to process in his head.

Dave scrolls through the text one more time, letting it all sink in.

Okay. He's gonna make a checklist.

Some mysterious organization is e-mailing him.

Their founders are a guy who has premonitions of the imminent death of people, some creeper who builds robot girlfriends, and said girlfriend who used to be a ghost and is now a robot whose purpose is get her a real body back.

They think that his near-death experience makes him a prime candidate to be one of their agents. They think he has special powers now.

They're insane, that much is obvious.

And yet... And yet... Dave e-mails them back.

He's just as crazy after all.

Almost as soon as he sends it, his inbox flashes with a new message.

Dave is officially freaked.

“I'll c0me talk t0 y0u t0night when y0u fall asleep. - AA”

One little line that makes Dave pretty sure he should be calling the cops is all the message says.

Yeah. Okay. That's cool. Nightly visitors while he sleeps, possibly of the big ol' scary supernatural stalker variety. Just get him monster baby mpreg and call him Bella Swan. Bro can be a sheriff. Nothing to worry about over on this end of his universe. Nothing at all. Everything's good. His jimmies are still freshly pressed.

That night, it takes everything in him to actually be able to fall sleep. He's tripled check the locks on the doors and windows, laid out in bed with on eye open until exhaustion takes over.

It's just his luck that Dave worries himself into dreaming about some really freaky shit.

As in, some fairy girl was just outside his window and then popped in behind him. Yeah, that pitch colored, porcelain doll mess of a mane she called hair was nothing compared to those intensely red eyes. Which she had no right having... unlike himself who has a totally legit reason for having red eyes. Obviously. And well, there was the wings, too.

“So I thought you were supposed to be all ghost in the machine robocop. No pulling any punches when fighting the forces of supernatural crime.”

This girl, Aradia, he thinks she said her name was in the first e-mail, just laughs at him kindly.

“This is still your dream. I am just appearing before you how I wish to be perceived. That doesn't make me any less who I say I am, Dave. And look, these wings are fake anyway.”

She shows him the ribbons wrapped around her shoulders to tie the wings on. Oh yeah, great. He's got a LARPer infesting his dreams now. Sign up one Dave Strider for the next Renaissance Faire, he's got some dragons to slay and maidens to rescue. He should pick up so sort of herald or page along the way to preface his arrival with tales of how fantastic Dave is. Yeah. That sounds like a plan.

And now that that's settled, back on track.

“Right. So let's pretend for a second that I believe all of this. Why should I even trust you?”

“Dave,” she smiles widely, “We're more alike than you think. I have a lot that I can teach you about how to use the new powers you've found yourself in possession of... and make sure you don't hurt yourself with them.”

He just stares at her from behind his sunglasses. Not sure really what he should think. But hell. What could it hurt. So he just nods once at Aradia.

“Great! I'm so happy you agreed to this.”

“Before we call the all aboard for this crazy train and start biting heads off of doves or something, why don't you at least tell me a little more about yourself.”

Aradia laughs, “All in due time, Dave. But first, we have some serious work to do! I'll explain on the way!”

Suddenly, Dave is being pulled by an invisible force outside of his bedroom window. He flies higher and higher into the sky. Aradia is just ahead of him and she puts her hands out in front of her and the sky itself splits open. Through the rift, Dave can see a strange monochrome world with elegant architecture.

The two of them float through and the rift closes on his heels.

The things are everywhere around him. White and tattered. Flashing past him with devastating speed. Hovering in the distance.

Dave subconsciously floats closer to Aradia and she shoots him a knowing look mixed with a soft smile.

“Alright. What we have here are some angry and hopeless lost souls. They were attracted here by the owner of this dream bubble. He's currently having a very fitful sleep. See him sitting down there?”

“Why do we care about some kid with nightmares?”

Aradia wraps her arm around Dave's shoulder with a sigh. It conveys more than just frustration at Dave's lack of motivation. He watches as she stares forlornly at all the creatures around him.

“These hopeless spirits are trapped her just as much as that boy. They'll never know any rest as long as they continue to flock to his sadness. We need to get rid of them and seal this bubble off.”

"So. We're talking ghosts here? Like who you gonna call? Is this what I am now? Because I'm really thinking you should be talking to my friend with the thick glasses and buckteeth instead. He'd be so much more into this."

"Not so much ghosts," Aradia hums. "More like souls of the dead that have gone off their path and become something more. They're more monster than ghost at this point. And they can't go back. They're stuck this way. Trapped for eternity unless we do something about it."

Dave shrugs at her. He still doesn't understand what his role is in all of this. He's just some kid who likes rapping and amateur photography and useless chunks of amber with dead things inside. It isn't like he even has a weapon to take these things on.

Aradia smirks at him and ruffles his hair. Like she knows what he's thinking.

She move just a little away from him, unwrapping her arm from around his shoulder. Dave won't admit to anyone that he misses the casual touch. It had been pretty helpful

She puts her hands in front of her and a glowing red clock appears. From the center of the face a sword pommel emerges. Aradia seems to push more of herself into this magic thing and a full hilt pops out. She jerks her head in the direction of the sword.

Dave grabs it and pulls it the rest of the way out.

This just isn't normal.

Also. It's a kinda shitty sword.

Aradia points at one of the lost soul creatures and Dave prides himself on being able to take hints from people who use little to no words to get him to do things.

The creature is coming at them and Aradia moves even further away.

Dave's heart races. His fingers twitch, itching to just grasp at her hand or something because he just feels really lost and caught up in something he has no idea about and clearly she does but getting an answer out of her is like conducting a precise archaeological excavation and running out of stipend money half way through the analysis and Dave suddenly can't breathe and even though he can't breathe he still has to keep his shit together so he lunges forward and slashes at that fucking creepy ass thing.

And nothing happens.

His sword passes through.

And Dave is panting to catch up on his breath.

So Aradia takes his hand and his heart rate starts to slow.

“Why?” he barely manages to get out.

“You can't kill something that's dead, Dave. That's just silly.”

“So how?”

“Well, it used to be alive, didn't it? You just have to tap into that.”

And that just makes no sense. But hey, if Aradia can pull a sword out of a magic circle that looks like a clock face then he just might have to believe her a little bit. She, after all, seems to believe in him. So that has to mean something, right?

Dave takes a deep breath and squeezes Aradia's hand.

He concentrates on the creature barreling towards them. Had to be alive once, she said. Right. Okay. He can do this. Yeah.

He stares it down, or he would if it had eyes. Instead it's just a mass of teeth and tattered cloth and oh yeah wings because they weren't scary enough.

“You're sure we're supposed to kill these?”

Aradia squeezes his hand tighter.

Dave focuses.

He flashsteps forward as his mind flashes back. He sees what this creature used to be. What it should be. Something much more happy and pure and now trapped in this existence. Screaming to be free. He sees when it used to be alive. Used to be _someone_ not just _something_.

His sword is straight out in front of him as he lunges.

This time it sinks in deep. The creature bleeds out pure light and Dave is suddenly very thankful for his signature sunglasses. The others just like it around him scream out and barrel towards him as the first slips from his sword and to the ground. Glaring pools of its demise steadily leaking from it.

Aradia moves next to him. She raises her hands and slows down time. Perfect for Dave to flashstep to each and every one of them, seeing them for who they were and putting them out of their misery.

In seconds, Dave and Aradia stand in an ocean of glowing blood. It's blinding, even behind Dave's shades. But as the last of these monsters falls to the ground, color begins to fill the world. Deep blues and royal purples, lively greens and calming blues.

From a distance, that boy who had been curled in on himself slowly stands. Through the glare of the light, Dave can see him turn towards them and lift the corner of his mouth up in a smile.

And suddenly Dave is awake in his bed.

The sheets have been kicked off, his blond hair matted to his head with sweat and his boxers clinging to him.

He'd think it were just a very active dream if there wasn't a shiny robot floating at the end of his bed.

“Jesus dicks on a stick!”

Dave jumps out of bed, nearly nude in front of this girl he barely knows. He fumbles to cover himself.

“Don't worry about that, Dave. We've got more important things to think about...”

The robot version speaks a little more monotonously, but Dave can handle that. He gets it. She's a robot or something. Yet he still feels a little put off by it. He'd gotten used to the kind and cheerful girl he just met in a freak dream or something.

And yeah, he misses that a bit already. Which is totally not like him at all so he should probably derail that train filled with explosives before it gets to the station. That is a mess he doesn't want to be responsible for cleaning up later.

“Yeah... No. I need some pants.”

“You're also going to need that,” she deadpans pointing to the shelf of preserved dead things.

“The scorpion in amber?”

With an expressionless face, she nods slowly at him.

Dave sighs and goes along with the eccentric robo-ghost. A little more crazy can't hurt anything, right? And well, it doesn't help that he's got this sudden urge to trust her to infinity because of how she not only held her own but completely covered his ass in all that crazy back there.

“Well, let's get me to the next hellbubble.”


End file.
